The landslide loss has left political observers questioning the length of the governor's political coattails, and wondering why Jindal's first endorsement in a legislative race was for a flawed candidate whose campaign was marred by allegations of questionable business practices and the revelation that he had skipped nine of 10 elections before seeking office.

Elliott Stonecipher, a Shreveport demographer and longtime observer of state politics, said the race stands alone among the legislative races he's seen for the amount of money and political capital expended in a losing cause.

"Everything that could go wrong went wrong, " Stonecipher said. "But almost all of it was discernible from the beginning."